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First, CIA approved the president’s State of the Union address before it was delivered. Second, I am responsible for the approval process in my agency. And third, the president had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound.
—CIA Director George Tenet, taking responsibility for U.S. President George W. Bush’s now-discredited claim that Iraq had sought to acquire uranium from Africa.
The United States believes North Korea has recently begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods, a key first step toward building nuclear weapons, the Japan Times reported yesterday (see GSN, July 11)...Full Story 
CIA Director George Tenet took responsibility Friday for U.S. President George W. Bush’s January State of the Union address, which contained the now-discredited claim that Iraq had sought to obtain uranium from Africa (see GSN, July 11)...Full Story
The Missile Technology Control Regime, which seeks to prevent ballistic missile proliferation by establishing common export control laws among members, could hinder the Bush administration’s plans to enlist allies to help develop missile defense systems, Defense News reported today (see GSN, June 2)...Full Story
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CIA Director George Tenet took responsibility Friday for U.S. President George W. Bush’s January State of the Union address, which contained the now-discredited claim that Iraq had sought to obtain uranium from Africa (see GSN, July 11).
“First, CIA approved the president’s State of the Union address before it was delivered. Second, I am responsible for the approval process in my agency. And third, the president had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound,” Tenet said in a press statement. “These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president,” he said (CIA release, July 11).
White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Saturday that the decision for Tenet to release his statement was a mutual one between the CIA director and the White House.
“Discussions with Director Tenet about the statement have been going on for days,” Fleischer said. “The discussion was, the CIA needs to explain what its role was in this,” he said.
Bush said Saturday that he “absolutely” had faith in both Tenet and the CIA itself.
“I’ve got confidence in George Tenet and in the men and women who work at the CIA,” Bush said during a press conference in Abuja, Nigeria.
Tenet’s statement should close the issue of the Africa claim, according to Fleischer.
“The president is pleased that the director of central intelligence acknowledged what needed to be acknowledged,” Fleischer said. “The president has moved on. And I think, frankly, much of the country has moved on as well,” he said (Richard Stevenson, New York Times, July 13).
The Washington Post reported yesterday that Tenet was able to persuade White House officials to remove a claim that Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium from Niger from a Bush speech in October.
The White House wanted to include in the speech an allegation that Iraq had attempted to purchase 500 tons of uranium oxide, an assertion that was contained in a national intelligence estimate in late September 2002, according to the Post. Tenet personally told White House officials, including deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley, that the allegation should not be used because it only came from one source, according to a senior official. The CIA also doubted the accuracy of the documents that served as the basis of the allegation, which were later revealed to have been forgeries, a second senior official said.
The late September national intelligence estimate was the basis for Bush’s claim in his State of the Union address that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium from Africa, the Post reported.
A former White House official said that there had been information “available within the system” that should have been able to keep the Africa claim out of the State of the Union address.
“The information was available within the system that should have caught this kind of big mistake,” the former Bush administration official said. “The question is how the management of the system, and the process that supported it, allowed this kind of misinformation to be used and embarrass the president,” the former official said (Pincus/Allen, Washington Post, July 13).
In his statement Friday, Tenet defended the text of Bush’s State of the Union address as being “factually correct.”
“From what we know now, agency officials in the end concurred that the text in the speech was factually correct — i.e. that the British government report said that Iraq sought uranium from Africa,” Tenet said. “This should not have been the test for clearing a presidential address. This did not rise to the level of certainty which should be required for presidential speeches, and CIA should have ensured that it was removed,” he added (CIA release).
Yesterday, two senior Bush administration officials also defended the text of the State of the Union address as being factually correct.
“The statement that he [Bush] made was indeed accurate,” U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Fox News Sunday. “The British government did say that,” she said.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also said that Bush’s address was correct, adding that London has continued to stand by its assertion.
“It turns out that it’s technically correct what the president said, that the U.K. does — did say that — and still says that,” Rumsfeld said. “They haven’t changed their mind, the United Kingdom intelligence people,” he said (James Risen, New York Times, July 14).
Rumsfeld also said yesterday that Vice President Dick Cheney misspoke when he said on Meet the Press that Iraq had reconstituted nuclear weapons, saying that the vice president had meant to say Iraq had rebuilt its nuclear weapons program.
“In no instance did anyone in the administration that I know of suggested that they had a nuclear weapon,” Rumsfeld said. “We did believe, and do believe, that they had reconstituted their program, and at some point would have … a nuclear weapon — if left alone,” he said (U.S. Defense Department release, July 13).
British Intelligence Report
Meanwhile, France and Italy are believed to have provided the United Kingdom with information that was used to support the British claim that Iraq had attempted to obtain uranium from Africa, according to the Financial Times.
The information used to support the claim came from two Western European countries and not from the documents that were found to have been forgeries, according to senior British government sources. The United Kingdom did not share the intelligence it received with the United States because it “was not ours to share,” an official said (Huband/Adams, Financial Times, July 13).
The French secret service, the DGSE, is believed to have refused to allow the British MI6 intelligence service to provide the United States with “credible” intelligence that showed that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium ore from Niger, U.S. intelligence sources said yesterday.
MI6 had more than one “different and credible” piece of intelligence that showed that Iraq had attempted to purchase the uranium, but because it was provided by foreign intelligence services, under rules governing cooperation, it could not be shared without the originator’s permission, British officials said. U.S. intelligence sources believe that MI6’s information came from the DGSE because Niger is a former French colony and its uranium mines are operated by a French company, according to the London Telegraph. In addition, France was opposed to the war on Iraq and would have been against the idea of intelligence sharing, according to U.S. sources (Michael Smith, London Telegraph, July 14).
Blix Criticizes British 45-Minute Claim
The British government made “a fundamental mistake” in claiming that the Iraqi military could have deployed biological and chemical weapons within 45 minutes of receiving an order to do so, former U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said.
“I think that was a fundamental mistake,” Blix said of the 45-minute claim, which was included in a British dossier on Iraq’s WMD programs released in September 2002. “I don’t know exactly how they calculated this figure of 45 minutes in the dossier of September last year. That seems pretty far off the mark to me,” he said.
Blix also said that the United Kingdom had “overinterpreted the intelligence they had.”
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, however, was “strongly convinced” that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, Blix said.
“I talked to him several times, and I never had any other impression,” Blix said. “In fact, I was the one who was skeptical and critical, and said that I didn’t think that the evidence was so strong, and said so to the [U.N.] Security Council,” he said (Irving/Whitaker, London Independent, July 13).
Iraqi Militia Claims Al-Qaeda Connection
A group calling itself the “Islamic Armed Group of al-Qaeda, Fallujah branch” has said that it, and not former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, is behind the series of attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, according to a videotape aired on the al-Arabiya satellite television network yesterday.
On the videotape, a distorted male voice tells U.S. troops to “leave Iraq’s territories and to live up to their promises.” The voice also takes credit for the recent attacks on U.S. troops.
“By God, not one of (Saddam’s) followers carried out any of the Jihadi (holy war) operations like he claims,” the voice said.
The voice also warned that the “coming days … will show you the strike that will break America’s back” (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 14).
More than 13,000 New York City police officers will be equipped with gas masks to respond to chemical or biological attacks, the New York Post reported today (see GSN, June 30).
More than 3,000 anti-terrorist police have already received the new lightweight “Millennium Masks” and 10,000 more are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2003.
All police officials now carry “Tactical Response Hoods,” a mask that allows them to evacuate a contaminated area.
“We have different masks depending on what your job is in the department,” said New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. “I would like to move to this mask, which is a mask for working in a toxic environment rather than just escaping. It’s a tighter seal. The filters last for a longer period of time,” he added.
Kelly plans to eventually distribute the masks to all 34,000 police officers in the city, the Post reported (Hamilton/Lisi, New York Post, July 14).
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The United States believes North Korea has recently begun reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods, a key first step toward building nuclear weapons, the Japan Times reported yesterday (see GSN, July 11).
U.S. intelligence agencies have analyzed air samples and detected krypton 85, a byproduct of reprocessing, according to a U.S. official.
The new intelligence was sent to the White House Thursday, according to a television report (Japan Times, July 13).
During informal talks in New York, North Korean representatives told U.S. diplomats that they have completed reprocessing the spent fuel rods, according to former South Korean lawmaker Chang Sung-min (Korea Herald, July 14).
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s foreign policy adviser said, however, that there is “no scientific evidence” that North Korea has reprocessed fuel rods.
“We’re not at the stage of being able to confirm anything,” said Ban Ki-moon (Paul Eckert, Reuters, July 14).
South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan agreed that there was no conclusive evidence of reprocessing.
“There have been no scientific data and evidence to confirm North Korea has finished reprocessing spent fuel rods,” Yoon said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, July 14).
North and South Korea, meanwhile, agreed to hold “appropriate” talks to defuse the nuclear crisis. The decision came at the end of ministerial meetings, which wrapped up Saturday.
“South and North Korea will resolve the nuclear issue peacefully through appropriate dialogue,” according to a joint statement (Kim So-young, Korea Herald, July 14).
Pentagon Plan “Provocative”
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered U.S. military leaders to draw up plans for another war on the Korean Peninsula, but some officials are saying the plan itself could push Pyongyang toward conflict, U.S. News & World Report reported.
The plan is being developed by Adm. Thomas Fargo, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, and senior Pentagon officials.
“Some of the things (Fargo) is being asked to do are, shall we say, provocative,” a senior U.S. official said.
“Plan 5030” includes maneuvers that could drain North Korean resources and test its military, the magazine reported (Auster/Whitelaw, U.S. News & World Report, July 21).
The fiscal 2004 defense appropriations bill approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives includes $20 million to return more than 20 retired B-1 nuclear-capable bombers back to active service, the Abilene Reporter-News reported Friday (see GSN, June 2).
The $20 million included in the House bill would bring 23 out of 32 retired B-1s back into active service. In 2001, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reduced the U.S. B-1 fleet of 93 bombers by a third because of cost concerns, according to the Reporter-News. The House bill also includes $97 million to purchase parts for the B-1 fleet and more than $88 million for research and development.
The Senate version of the bill, which is expected to be considered within a week, does not contain the $20 million to reactivate retired B-1 bombers, but instead contains $100 million for parts and more than $88 million for research and development, according to the Reporter-News. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) are considering whether reactivating the retired bombers is viable, where the $20 million in funding would come from and whether that amount is enough, spokespeople for the senators said.
While the $20 million is enough to fund the retired bombers for a year, more funding would be needed to cover maintenance and personnel costs, said Bill Ehrie, retired commander of Dyess Air Fore Base in Texas, which has 32 active B-1s (Tara Copp, Abilene Reporter-News, July 11).
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The U.S. Postal Service is expected today to begin testing a new anthrax-detection system at postal facilities in 15 cities, according to the Los Angeles Times (see GSN, June 9). The tests are expected to last for one month, the Postal Service said (Los Angeles Times, July 14).
France is not prepared for a biological weapons attack, according to a report from the French health and research ministries released last week (see GSN, March 25).
“The country has shown in recent years a limited ability to deal with the problem of infectious diseases, which means it is one of the least prepared for the problem of a massive epidemic,” the report says.
The report said that the French government has not taken the threat of biological terrorist attacks seriously enough. The ministries also accused the French military of not taking steps to defend against chemical or biological warfare.
“The level of the country’s preparedness against infectious diseases is embryonic, and this is the consequence of political choices that have been made,” the report says (Reuters, July 9).
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The Missile Technology Control Regime, which seeks to prevent ballistic missile proliferation by establishing common export control laws among members, could hinder the Bush administration’s plans to enlist allies to help develop missile defense systems, Defense News reported today (see GSN, June 2).
The MTCR’s consequences on missile defense cooperation are illustrated by a planned set of tests next year for the U.S.-Israeli Arrow missile interceptor. To conduct those tests, Israel plans to send an Arrow system and some spare missiles to a U.S. facility, according to Defense News. Under a strict interpretation of the MTCR, however, those spare interceptors could not be returned to Israel.
After considering several options, U.S. and Israeli officials determined that as long as Israeli officials maintained possession of the interceptors at all times, they could be returned without violating the regime, Defense News reported.
To prevent further difficult case-by-case reviews, the Bush administration is reviewing the MTCR and other export-control regulations, with recommendations on changes expected by the summer, according to a senior Bush administration official. A senior Bush administration official said the review would probably not recommend outright MTCR rule changes but rather would seek more moderate measures that could applied without reviewing each case individually.
The “MTCR is not, should not be, and is not intended to be a restraint on missile defense,” the official said. “It is intended to restrict trade in ballistic missile technology, so it has a complementary role to missile defense. Both seek to do the same thing in different ways,” the official said.
A U.S. industry official said that continued case-by-case reviews could lead to creative interpretations of the MTCR, which would help weaken the entire regime. Case-by-case reviews could also delay cooperation, the official said.
“On each and every occasion that some form of cooperation is proposed, proponents will line up their arguments and opponents will be energized by having another opportunity to draw the line on the primacy of the MTCR over missile defense cooperation,” the industry official said. “In some cases, cooperation will be denied. In others, we will see cooperation reduced,” the official added.
Opponents of outright changes to U.S. export control regulations, however, have warned against abolishing the MTCR, which could lead to increased ballistic missile proliferation
“This logic argues that the MTCR doesn’t work very well and that we should simply give up on it, but this (same logic) is not applied to missile defense technology itself,” said Ivan Oelrich, director of the Strategic Security Project at the Federation of American Scientists. “Even the most ardent supporters (of missile defense) admit the system might not work but that we should try anyway, yet they do not feel the same about the MTCR,” he said (Svitak/Ratnam, Defense News, July 14).
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The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee last week boosted funding for purchasing Ground-based Midcourse Defense interceptors and the Arrow missile defense system in its fiscal 2004 defense spending bill, Defense Week reported today (see GSN, July 10).
The bill adds $200 million to buy additional missile interceptors and tacks on another $90 million to the Arrow program (see GSN, July 10). The committee also added an unsolicited $20 million to the Pacific Missile Range Facility for facility improvements, and the Army Space and Missile Defense Command is slated to receive another $125 million.
The increases are not matched in the House Appropriation Committee bill, and the differences will be worked out in conference, Defense Week reported.
The Senate committee also cut $175 million from the Defense Department’s funding request for a kinetic-energy interceptor.
In an effort to reduce program risk, the committee cut funding for the Space-Based Radar program by $75 million. The committee also cut a $194 million Navy request to modernize Aegis cruisers — ships that are crucial to the national missile defense plan — after lawmakers questioned the cost estimates and acquisition strategy (John Donnelly, Defense Week, July 14).
The United States wants Australia to cooperate in developing internationally deployed missile defenses, the Weekend Australian reported Saturday (see GSN, Feb. 27).
The system could include radar facilities or interceptors based in Australia, and Australian Navy ships could take part in the system. J.D. Crouch, a senior Pentagon official, said he planned to visit Canberra to discuss the issue, according to the Weekend Australian.
“We don’t have any particular solution here,” Crouch said. “One thing would be the basing of ship-based systems (in Australia); there might be some sensors (radar) that would be valuable to place there; maybe even interceptors,” he added.
Noting threats from countries such as North Korea, Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said “a way of taking out missiles is a logical way to go.”
“The more likely progress will be through a ship-based scheme that won’t be specifically designed to protect continental Australia, but will have the capability of missile interception that will give us the potential to engage in a broader missile defense agenda,” he added (Roy Eccleston, Weekend Australian, July 12).
The U.S. Army last week announced that it is preparing to seek proposals for a miniature kill vehicle contract, Space & Missile reported today (see GSN, June 16).
The company that wins the contract will continue development and testing of the miniature technology, and the selection process will only be open to three companies that have been involved in the early research. Science Applications International, Schafer and Lockheed Martin have already been awarded preliminary development contracts, Space & Missile reported.
Officials are concerned that awarding the contract to another company would result in duplicated efforts and costs, Space & Missile reported. The contract will be issued through the Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala., and be used in the national missile defense system.
“This technology is needed for future application within the critically important Ballistic Missile Defense System,” the Army said in a statement.
Army officials said they are seeking a system that will allow 20-40 softball-sized kill vehicles to be loaded onto one booster rocket. Each kill vehicle would weigh 4 pounds (Keith Stein, Space & Missile, July 14).
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British police last week issued a national alert after thieves stole a van containing 30 pounds of depleted uranium from a radioactive waste processing firm, according to the London Sunday Times (see GSN, July 8).
The stolen van had been left unlocked and the keys were in the ignition, according to the Times.
Nuclear physicist Frank Barnaby said that terrorists might have wanted the material for use in a “dirty bomb,” which combines conventional explosives and radioactive materials.
“If you exploded such a device in Oxford Street the police would be under pressure to evacuate a wide area,” Barnaby said. “The uranium would spread all over and people would get it on their clothes and take it home with them,” he said (David Leppard, London Sunday Times, July 13).
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2002 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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